Power



' March 12, 1929. w E HIGBY 1,704,895

rowan SYSTEM FOR AIRPLANES, m'c

Filed Jan. 24, 1928 IN V EN TOR. Maw/v 1?. M55) lax MM- ATTORNEY.

l air-blasts which are adji i 30 able joint in the-air blast pipes.

WILLIAM. E. BIGBY, or Monomeric, cononnnoi rowan sYsirEM non ArRrLANEs, ETC.

This invention relates to a method for pro pelling an airplane: It has ttor.its principal object the provision ot an airplane which will be-propelled in the air or. along on the ground I by means of a blast of. air projectediroin, the

plane.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide an airplane which willbe guided both as tovertical and lateral direction "by means of table both tor direction and intensity. V

:Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction ot the invention, which .is

. designed for simplicity, economy, and effi- 5 money.

from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention referenceis had to the acccoinpanying drawing of the drawing and throughout the desrrip-. 'tion. Tnthe drawing; j j Fig. 1 is a plan view otan airplane in which my invention is en ibodied. 1

- Fig; 2 is-a side elevation thereof.

. Fig. 3 is a detail View illustratingthe control mechanism for the draft dampers.

' Fig. at is a detail view illustrating the rotat- -In. the. drawings, the various parts typical airplane are indicated by numerals as follows: fuselage" 10, wings 11, vertical. rudder -12, horizontal stabilizer 13, cockpit 1 L,

wheelcarriage 15, and tail skid 1.6.

1 I Forwardly' of the cockpit 14 any of the I 5 usual enginesv may, be placed, as indicated at 17. This engine is employed to drive acentrifugal fan, the housing of which is indicated at 18. The fan 18 intakes from an intake pipe 19 which projects from the nose of the fuselage and discharges'through apair of discharge pipes 20, one of which projects rearwardly from each of the wings 11.

The discharge pipes 20 each contain a rotatable oint 21, illustrated in detail in Fig. 4, so that their extremities, which are L shaped, maybe rotated on the extremities of the short stationary portions22 of the discharge pipe.

be employed in place of the bellows 28 suclras These will become:more apparent .whichitorins a part hereof Like numerals refer to like parts 1T1 all views of a The intake pipe 19 is provided with a bellows Application filed January 2a, 1928. Serial No. 249,091.

a ball andsocket, or loose sleeve joint it desired. 7 1

Adjacent the rotatable joints 21 in the dis-i charge pipes fixed rings 24- are secured from each or which a pair-of levers 25 project. The rearward lever 25 of each'o'f the rings 24 is connected by means of a connecting rod27 to a lever 28, one 01" which is placed. on eachof the extremities oi a control shaft '29. The control shat't 29 may he turned by meansot' a control lever30 which isplaced conveniently to the operator in the cockpit lei. By means oi this arrangement, the projeetedblast of air can be directedat any desired rearward and downward angle and'the air can be drawn inward at any desired forward and upward angle. Thus the blast can be used to assist in lifting the plane fromthe ground bydirecting it at a substantial downward anglev The lifting action is assisted by the intake pipe 19 which turns upwardly as the discharge pipes .turn downwardly and creates a. vacuuinover the nose of the plane. Asthe plane reaches the'desired height the intake and discharge pipes can be straightened by means or the lever 30 to aniore nearly horizontal position where they will act to drivethe plane forwardly, it depending then upon the wing section for its lift. With this inventionthere is no need for a vertical rudder, merely a stabilizer 13 being provided. The lateral. movements of the plane are controlled-by varying the relative force otthe blast in the respective discharge pipes 20. :This is accomplished by means ofdischarge pipes 22and controlled in any (lo-- sired manner from a steering wheel 32. r

The damper controlas illustrated comprises two pairs of bevel gears One gear of each pair is placed on theextremity of one of the daniper shafts, and the other gear of each pair being placed on one of a pair ofshort parallel counter shafts 34;. The counter shafts 34 extends rearwardly and terminate in levers 35. On the extremity of the steering wheel shafta lever 36 is placed. Push rods 37 extend from the levers 35 into contact with the lever 86 and are maintained in contact therewith by means o1 springs 38. Collars 39 limit the inward movements of the push rods.

By this arrangement, rotation of the steering wheel to the left causes the lever 36 to push on the left hand push rod and close the damper V in the left hand blast pipe thus directing the majority of the air blast through the right in a left 'circle. 'Tofturn in a rightcircle, the

steering wheel is turned toward theright which allows the left handdainper tonopen and closes the right hand damper, thus creating a stronger blast in the leii-t'handv discharge pipe which swings the plane in a right circle. The discharge pipes are. for the most part concealed within the structure of the wings 1-1. To lessen the thickness of the wing the pipes can be made to have a cross section con forming to the shape of the wing, instead of round as shown, if desired.

I The rotatable joint 21 may be constructed in any desired manner which will allow the L shaped extremity to be turned onthe station ary portions 22. Asillustrated;aii annular bead is formed on the extremity of the portionsv22 which slides upon a similar head formed upon the L shaped extremities, as shown in Fig. 4. v v

YVhi le tlie invention has been described as particularly applicable to an airplane it is easily conceivabl'ethat it might be employedtor driving and guiding other types oi -vehicles and it-isdesired to be'understood that all such adapt-ions are within the conception the i iiveiition.

l'laving thus described the invention what l claim :and desire secured by Letters Patent-iis;z'r V 1. A power system-ionairplanes and the like comprising a motor; a fan driven by'said motor; housing surrounding said fan; an-

intake pipe to said housing opening forwardlylofsaid' airplane; a pair of discharge pipes fOl sitidhousing, one ofsaid discharge pipes being placed on each side of the longitudinal axis'oif said planeso astoi direct an air blastrearwardly therefrom; means for siniul-- taneously varying the angle-0i discharge of J said discharge-pipes and the angleof-intake of-said intake pipe; i V p 2. A power system forai'rplanes and the like comprising a motor; a fan -ClIlV611"lI)y said motor; a housing surrounding saidfan an intake pipe to said housing opening-forwardly offsa id airplane; pair of discharge pipes for said housing, one of said discharge pipes being placed on each side of the-long tudinal axis of said plane so as to direct an air blast rearwardly therefrom; ineans for V varying the angle of discharge of said discharge pipes and other means for varying the angle oi intake of said intake pipe, said two means arranged-to operate siinultaneously and in unison with each other.

A power systeni for airplanes andaithe likecomprising a motor; a fan drivenby said motor; a housin surrounding said fan; an

intake pipe to. said: housing openingforwa-rdly ofsaid airplane; apair of discharge pipes for said housin one oi said dischar e i es being placed on each side oiitlie longitudinal axis oisaid plane so aszto: direct an air blast rearwardly therefrom; means for varying the angle of intake of said iiitak'e'pizpeaiidmeans forvarying the angle of said discharge pipes said means being arranged for manual control by the airplane operator and opera-- tively connected. so that said intake pipe will at. A power'systeniforairplanesrandthe like comprising a motor aft'andrivenby: said motor; a housing surrounding said-fan; an, 7

intake pipe to said. housing opening forwardly oi said airplane; and a pair-of discharge pipes for said housing, one of said. discharge p pes being placed'on each side of the longitudinal axis OfSiLlCl planevsoias to direct an air blast rreai'wardly thaere'l -i'onira damper in each of said discharge pipes and means for opera-ting said dampers stithat-a greater blast oi? air can be dischargedironi either one of said pipes tliannrfroin the'lother of said pipes, said. great-erblastactingrtd i guide said plane; and ineaiis for controlling 7 said: dampers;saidineans comprising aasys- 'teintior transmittingmechanical motionanda steering apparatus manually operated to: control said system; said: steering apparatus coin irising ZIStQGIIiDg shaft; a lever project- 1 ing from said'shaft; push rods adapted to} contact with each sidevof-said' leverysprings: for maintaining said push I0(lS "1i1- C0I1l l,(3l3- with one ofs'aid dampers:

In. testimony whereof, I signature.

WILL-IAM'E; I-IIGB-Ki 

